One summer day in 1997, I decided to meet up with my husband, Chuck, in Los Angeles,
California. He’s an airline pilot, in addition to being a meteorologist, and he had
a twenty-four-hour layover there.

We were walking along the beach in the sunshine when I asked him if he knew what
the weather was going to be at home in Portland, Oregon. When Chuck told me it was
going to rain, I said, “Oh, it’s going to be a raindrop day!” A song popped into
my head, and the idea of Randy the Raindrop was born.

Over the next decade, thinking about Randy both helped me through illness in my family
and frustrated me because I never seemed able to fully transform the idea into a
book.

Finally, I woke up one morning, and I had a spark in my heart to make this book a
reality. By this time, there were so many good opportunities for self-publishing.
I love the idea of self-publishing, being in control of each step of my book’s creation.
It is so fun and exciting to see the book develop from start to finish. I think waiting
as long as I did was meant to be. I took my time researching self-publishing and
asking a lot of questions. I e-mailed Toula Magi because she had self-published a
book about rain, What Can We Do Next?, which I liked. Toula and I are now very good
friends.

I also found online the person who would become my illustrator. I took one look at
her website, and I knew she was the person to illustrate my book. Kim Sponaugle worked
off of my ideas, suggesting what to add or change, and our ideas blended very well
together.

My editor, Jill Ronsley, is not only a very good editor but also a great coach—she
guides me in how to be a better writer.

After my editing was complete and my illustrations were ready, I sent the book to
CreateSpace. The company printed my book and mailed the finished product to me. Having
my book in my hands for the first time was very exciting. Before I opened it, I felt
like a kid at Christmas, waiting to open up a present, hoping it would be what I
wanted.

My wish came true to complete my book and share it with others.

Buster loves to make you play with him with his favorite squeaky ball that he insists
on you throwing so he can catch it in his mouth. He loves to nudge the ball down
the stairs and have you throw it back up so he can catch it over and over again.
Getting Buster up in the morning is a challenge unless the sun is out to sunbathe.
Dachshunds love laying in the sun and snuggle under the covers in bed.

PERSONAL CONNECTION TO CHARACTERS

BUSTER

Dillan loved his chew toys, taking turns chasing each other around the house and
most of all chasing the seagulls that would tease him at the beach. He loved running
in the sea water. His favorite thing was getting up in the morning to sunbathe in
the living room.

DILLAN

SHOTSIE

CASEY

My dog Shotsie boy loved to play tug of war and playing in the snow when he got a
chance. Nothing slowed him down!

The Illustrator Kim's dog "Casey", loves to chase squirrels and chew on her stuffed
egret named Harry.